Microplasma (microdischarge) devices have been under development for almost a decade and devices having microcavities as small as 10 μm have been fabricated. (A microcavity is a cavity having a characteristic dimension (diameter, length of a rectangle, etc.) of approximately 500 μm or less.) Arrays of microplasma devices as large as 4×104 pixels in ˜4 cm2 of chip area, for a packing density of 104 pixels per cm2, have been fabricated. Furthermore, applications of these devices in areas as diverse as photodetection in the visible and ultraviolet, environmental sensing, and plasma etching of semiconductors have been demonstrated and several are currently being explored for commercial potential. Many of the microplasma devices reported to date have been driven by DC voltages and have incorporated dielectric films of essentially homogeneous materials.
Regardless of the application envisioned for microplasma devices, the success of this technology will hinge on several factors, of which the most important are manufacturing cost, lifetime, and radiant efficiency. A method of device fabrication that addresses manufacturing cost and lifetime while simultaneously providing for large arrays of devices is, therefore, highly desirable.